Prop for top-buggies



(No-Model.) I I. BA TEMAN PROP FOR TOP BUGGIES.

Patented ay '8, 1888'.

'INVENTQR ATTORNEYS:

u. PETERS. Pholwi-llhognpher. Wi wam". 0.1;

' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.-

ISAAG BATEMAN, OF FERNfPENNSYLVANIAL PROP FOR TOP-BUGGIES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 382,584, dated May 8,1888;

I Application filed December 5, Serial No. 257.029. (No model.)

springs having holders or sockets for receiving the buggy-top bows.

My invention is embodied in the springprop having the form and other features of construction hereinafter described, reference the accompanying drawings, in which- I Figure 1 is a perspective View of the springprop. Fig. 2 is a side view of a portion of a carriage with my improved prop applied and in use supporting a buggy-top. Fig. 3 is a vertical cross section showing the same parts enlarged.

The prop A is a forged steel-plate spring of volute or scroll shape. Its inner end is bent on itself to form a square socket or sleeve, or, adapted to fit loosely on the square arm I),

' Fig. 3, projecting laterally from the buggyseat. This arm is in practice usually made three inches long, and as carriage-tops vary in width I make the sleeve one and three-eighths inch wide, so that it may be adjusted on the arm, and thereby placed in exact alignment with the top bow, which restson it when the buggy-top is lowered; and as but few buggytops have exactly the same width this is a feature of considerable practical importance. To secure the prop in any adjustment, I employ the clamp-screw G, which passes through the under side of the sleeve (1, as shown in Fig. 1. The upper end of the spring-prop is in practice almost directly over and about two inches above the sleeve a, so that when the buggy top is lowered its rear (or under) bow lies hori zontal. Theholderfor the bow is formed of two broad thin spring arm's, c c, which are forged integrally with the prop and placed opposite each other parallel to the sides of the, latter. These armshave approximately an S shape, Figs. 1 and 2-that is to say, they diverge somewhat from the body of the prop, then bend inward at "w, and again outward at their upper ends. Thus a socket is formed suitable in size and shape to receive the buggy-top since the spring-arms close over the bow (as shown in dotted lines, Fig. 3) sufficiently to prevent this. The lateral divergence of the upper ends of the arms 0 c facilitates the entrance of the bow into the socket or holder proper. The holder is lined with leather. or

. soft rubber to. prevent abrasion of the buggya thinner than the part above it,so that the required elasticity resides mainly in such lower portion.

What I claim isv 1. As a new article of manufacture, the buggy-top prop hereinbefore described, the same being made of a volute-shaped spring and having the squaresocket a formed on its.

inner and lower end and the curved springarms b on its outer and upper end, the whole being constructed integrally, as shown and described.

2. A buggy-top prop consisting of a spring of volute form whose lower portion-that isto say, the portion below theplane of the point of attachment-is made thinner than the up-- per'portion, to render it more elastic, as and for the purpose specified.

' ISAAC BATEMAN, Witnesses:

DANIEL BOYER, J. 1?. SHoFFLEs.

This is spring which lies below the plane of the sleeve v 

